India Thread

Alright, proud fans of Indian cricket. We're finally seeing the evolution of a one-day outfit pervaded not only by a plethora of elegant strokemakers, but also sharp fielders and genuine pacemen. We have the creative approach of coach Greg Chappell, the professionalism and "responsible aggression", as I like to term it, of captain Rahul Dravid, and a seasoned veteran in Sachin Tendulkar who can play the role of a mentor to the younger members of the team.

This team still has flaws that need to be sorted out, but no one can deny the progress that has been made since the last summer. If this progress continues and the vast pool of talented youth in India is utilized effectively, we surely will have a bright chance of calling ourselves World Champions when all is said and done in 2007.

Your thoughts on the steps that need to be taken and the men that need to be brought in so that Team India can achieve glory for the first time in more than two decades?

What the indian team always need is a little bit of pace... would like to see players like Munaf patel and VRV singh be used pretty quickly so they can gain some much needed experience before the world cup..

On the batting issue, India seems to be in control.. and the wicketkeeping issue is no more a problem thanx to Dhoni... he is a good talented player..

I know alot of people think dravid is an excellent captain and what not?? But i truely believe that he needs to be a touch agressive..

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India is moving in the right direction but time is short and we need some of the young guys to get more exposure and fast.

Raina, the slew of medium p[acers coming in and another opener and a stand by keeper come quickly to mind for this.

PACE ATTACK : VRV, Munaf, RP, Sreesanth with Pathan seem a good lot but they are so goddamn RAW. They need to play more and thats a problem. We needed Srinath's experience in the last world cup but we cant count on Agarkar, Zaheer and co to fill that role. This is a worry. An inexperienced even though promising attack.

Where are Balaji and Nehra. The way everyone says they dont know of Nehra's whereabouts is very very fishy. Whats happening? Is Nehra not on talking terms with selectors, officials etc ? What is DDCA doing? Very strange indeed.

OPENERS : Gambhir is showing inconsistency as well as impetuosity. Add that to Sehwag's natural belligerence and we have a bit of a problem. We need to identify two more one day openers one of whom will accompany the team (as standby) in case Gambhir declines further in the run upto the world cup.

SPIN : I hope I am proved wrong but I think Kumble is done with and we need to bring in Romesh Powar very very quickly. Of all the spinners in the countrey today (which includes Kumble, Harbhajan, Chawla and Karthik), I would back Powar to do well in the world cup but we are not looking seriously enough at a replacement for Harbhajan and it may be too late if its not done soon.

He is a VERY good spinner though he turns less than Bhajji. Has very good control. Has a great temprament. Has brains (Bhajji is average in that department). Has a lot of experience.

On top of that he is a first rate bat in the lower middle order.

His looks (including fat) are extremely deceptive. If there is one cricketer in Bombay after Sachin who should be in the world cup squad it is Powar.

I am also surprised that Raina has hardly been bowled. We need to know if he is a REGULAR bowling option or not and that needs to be found out NOW.

CAPTAINCY : I think the fears on Dravid being a defensive captain are totally unfounded. He is a FAR more aggressive captain ON THE FIELD than Ganguly ever was. This is a fact. You cant see it on his face (not required). Just watch what he does both with handling the attack as well as his field placing. Ganguly was totally lost and his nails vanished from his chewing when there was a crisis, Thats not the captain you need. Ganguly was a 'strong batting side" captain. Great captains are bowlers captains particularly when things are going wrong or not enough runs have been scored. Ganguly was never that.

His bigger asset though is his handling of a crisis as well as special situations.

Just to look at the most recent example. Bowling Chawla for the one over before lunch for his 'debut' over was a great idea. The boy got inducted without the batsmen even thinking of going after him and then when Pietersen went after him, he removed him. Not because a leg spinner should not bowl when a batsman is going after him but protecting a 17 year old's psyche in his first exposure to big cricket was vital.

Kumble, Laxman have to be told that their ODI careers are finished. They have done their bits and their speciality merits are not great enough (in ODI's) to hide their average fielding in the outfield.

Murali Karthik has been tried enough and we havent seen any 'breath taking' (so common nowadays) performance. He is an also-ran and we have to move beyond him now. I would NOT include Chawla until he has got established as a test bowler. ODI's may finish/change him fore the worse.

India is moving in the right direction but time is short and we need some of the young guys to get more exposure and fast.

Raina, the slew of medium p[acers coming in and another opener and a stand by keeper come quickly to mind for this.

PACE ATTACK : VRV, Munaf, RP, Sreesanth with Pathan seem a good lot but they are so goddamn RAW. They need to play more and thats a problem. We needed Srinath's experience in the last world cup but we cant count on Agarkar, Zaheer and co to fill that role. This is a worry. An inexperienced even though promising attack.

Where are Balaji and Nehra. The way everyone says they dont know of Nehra's whereabouts is very very fishy. Whats happening? Is Nehra not on talking terms with selectors, officials etc ? What is DDCA doing? Very strange indeed.

OPENERS : Gambhir is showing inconsistency as well as impetuosity. Add that to Sehwag's natural belligerence and we have a bit of a problem. We need to identify two more one day openers one of whom will accompany the team (as standby) in case Gambhir declines further in the run upto the world cup.

SPIN : I hope I am proved wrong but I think Kumble is done with and we need to bring in Romesh Powar very very quickly. Of all the spinners in the countrey today (which includes Kumble, Harbhajan, Chawla and Karthik), I would back Powar to do well in the world cup but we are not looking seriously enough at a replacement for Harbhajan and it may be too late if its not done soon.

He is a VERY good spinner though he turns less than Bhajji. Has very good control. Has a great temprament. Has brains (Bhajji is average in that department). Has a lot of experience.

On top of that he is a first rate bat in the lower middle order.

His looks (including fat) are extremely deceptive. If there is one cricketer in Bombay after Sachin who should be in the world cup squad it is Powar.

I am also surprised that Raina has hardly been bowled. We need to know if he is a REGULAR bowling option or not and that needs to be found out NOW.

CAPTAINCY : I think the fears on Dravid being a defensive captain are totally unfounded. He is a FAR more aggressive captain ON THE FIELD than Ganguly ever was. This is a fact. You cant see it on his face (not required). Just watch what he does both with handling the attack as well as his field placing. Ganguly was totally lost and his nails vanished from his chewing when there was a crisis, Thats not the captain you need. Ganguly was a 'strong batting side" captain. Great captains are bowlers captains particularly when things are going wrong or not enough runs have been scored. Ganguly was never that.

His bigger asset though is his handling of a crisis as well as special situations.

Just to look at the most recent example. Bowling Chawla for the one over before lunch for his 'debut' over was a great idea. The boy got inducted without the batsmen even thinking of going after him and then when Pietersen went after him, he removed him. Not because a leg spinner should not bowl when a batsman is going after him but protecting a 17 year old's psyche in his first exposure to big cricket was vital.

Kumble, Laxman have to be told that their ODI careers are finished. They have done their bits and their speciality merits are not great enough (in ODI's) to hide their average fielding in the outfield.

Murali Karthik has been tried enough and we havent seen any 'breath taking' (so common nowadays) performance. He is an also-ran and we have to move beyond him now. I would NOT include Chawla until he has got established as a test bowler. ODI's may finish/change him fore the worse.

I've never agreed with a post more. You stole my thoughts. Anyways, more to come soon .. when I have time for a substantial post.

Openers
Sehwag and Tendulkar will be vital for us at the top. Gambhir has been impressive at times but far too inconsistent; not only might his test-exclusion mean that there will be a short leash on him in one-dayers, it might also motivate him to step it up a notch to maintain his position. Dhawan and Uthappa are two others who could contend for this role, with the under-19 stalwarts Dhiman and Pujara as wild-cards.

Middle-Order
Dravid is a devastating anchorman and Yuvraj is rapidly maturing into a responsible batsman. Kaif and Raina are the top contenders for the #5 spot. Unless Raina or Sehwag develop into decent fifth bowling options, India should go in with 5 bowlers. Laxman and Ganguly are done, and I don't see Rao, Badani, Mongia or any other middle-order batsman threatening the aforementioned for a place before the World Cup.

Pace Attack
Pathan as our spearhead is good enough if he keeps up the good work in ODIs. Agarkar is good enough for now but he shouldn't last until the World Cup. Sreesanth and Munaf have both impressed in their short stints, as has RP Singh. Vikram Singh will also figure with his pace ... the selectors seem to be impressed. Abid Nabi will probably have to wait, Nehra and Balaji are mysteries but chances are they'll struggle to find a place with the new crop of genuine seamers in India. Swing bowlers like Gagandeep, Salvi and Paul don't stand much of a chance anymore.

Spin Attack
Harbhajan is losing it these days, while Powar impressed against Pakistan once again. Chawla will probably be in there in a few months at most. With a suitable pitch, going in with two of these three alongisde Pathan, Munaf and Sreesanth/VRV/RP Singh could give India a solid bowling attack and a very deep batting lineup as well.

Can't really disagree with what's been said so far in this thread. Powar will definitely be a key component IMO, and we really should be giving him more games based on the fact that other than Harbhajan our spin bowling options in ODIs is low (can you believe it? Usually we have good spinners with no decent pace bowlers. Crazy).

I was disappointed he didn't get more games against Pakistan considering Bhajji was injured. They kept having a pace bowler as the super-sub, when Powar would have been the perfect one at the time to continue to give him experience.

"I am very happy and it will allow me to have lot more rice."

Eoin Morgan on being given a rice cooker for being Man of the Match in a Dhaka Premier Division game.

I have to say that Powar will be a key element too.. Our Pace attack seems to be in control, but for us to strike in WC we need good spinner also.. and with harbajan low in confidence he is the perfect man for this job.. He should have a crack at f'uture games and also champions trophy.. will be interesting how selectors see this though..

Well I'd say Harbhajan has just about regained his confidence after today's impressive display at Mumbai.
Powar could be very valuable to this side because he, along with Pathan, makes the 5-bowler concept very feasible. Chawla would also do this and should turn out to be a better batsman and bowler than Powar; the question is when he will mature enough to handle that role against world-class batsmen. Contrary to popular belief, India definitely has depth in the spin department (even for ODIs with no Kumble). They just need to give Powar and Chawla major opportunities soon so we can have a nice spin trinity going for us (Bhajji + Powar + Chawla).

World cup 2007

The pitches in the West Indian conditions are more likely to be suitable for fast bowling and so the team management should give chances to more young seamers like Abit Nabi ,V R V Singh,Munaf Patel in more ODIs as possible....

Also,India must have an attacking fast bowler who should bowl at a speed of around 145kmph..in the world cup squad..

If so means,it is difficult to prevent India from winning the World Cup..

I know most of you & myself have been impressed by Raina but i think picking him kind of depletes the bowling attack which before the emergence of Pathan has a very capable top 6 batsman was the main reason i didn't give India much of chance to win the WC because you would have a long batting line-up but a weak bowling attack. Having this team you would have 5 pretty good bowlers i'd say.

With guys like Pathan, Dhoni & Powar who from i've seen seems a decent bat you've got some good all-rounders & your batting line-up would be flexible since Pathan has shown he could bat at 3 & Dhoni can bat anywhere.

I know most of you & myself have been impressed by Raina but i think picking him kind of depletes the bowling attack which before the emergence of Pathan has a very capable top 6 batsman was the main reason i didn't give India much of chance to win the WC because you would have a long batting line-up but a weak bowling attack. Having this team you would have 5 pretty good bowlers i'd say.

With guys like Pathan, Dhoni & Powar who from i've seen seems a decent bat you've got some good all-rounders & your batting line-up would be flexible since Pathan has shown he could bat at 3 & Dhoni can bat anywhere.

I was pretty much thinking along the same lines a month or so ago, with the only exception being that Raina might beat out Kaif for the #5 spot. Recently though, I'm starting to believe that we can do fine with Raina, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Tendulkar doing the 5th bowler duties. That would give us an even deeper batting lineup:

Really though, we should be well off either with 4 or 5 specialist bowlers because of the flexibility of guys like Raina, Pathan, Dhoni and Powar. It's still to be seen what role Gautam Gambhir, Piyush Chawla and Vikram Singh will have to play in this one-day side, though they'll find it tough to break in the way things are going right now.

The pitches in the West Indian conditions are more likely to be suitable for fast bowling

Are you stuck in the 80s?

Sreesanth said, "Next ball he was beaten and I said, 'is this the King Charles Lara? Who is this impostor, moving around nervously? I should have kept my mouth shut for the next ball - mind you, it was a length ball - Lara just pulled it over the church beyond the boundary! He is a true legend."

India are very lucky to go to West Indies this June. This is their chance to get the feel of the pitches there and get used to the conditions. And the way they are looking right now, we could see a recap of 2003 with Australia and India in the finals again.